A 48-year-old convicted felon faces at least 20 years in prison after he was indicted on federal drug and gun charges this week, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Philadelphia. Ronald Stephen Bedics Jr., 48, of Allentown, was charged by indictment with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in connection with a drug crime and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger. Investigators say that Bedics was charged in connection with a March 21 incident in Allentown during which he had a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and .45 caliber handgun while trying to sell cocaine.

A 48-year-old convicted felon faces at least 20 years in prison after he was indicted on federal drug and gun charges this week, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Philadelphia. Ronald Stephen Bedics Jr., 48, of Allentown, was charged by indictment with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in connection with a drug crime and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger. Investigators say that Bedics was charged in connection with a March 21 incident in Allentown during which he had a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and .45 caliber handgun while trying to sell cocaine.

STROUDSBURG A Plainfield, N.J., man was arrested on federal drug charges Wednesday in Monroe County after more than 10 ounces of crack cocaine was found in his car, state police said. State police at Swiftwater said a rental car driven by Jimmie M. Benjamin, 28, was stopped on eastbound Interstate 80 in Stroudsburg around 8:45 a.m. for traveling 70 mph in a 50-mph zone. Police said neither Benjamin nor his two passengers were authorized to drive the car, which had been rented by a New Jersey woman.

A Bethlehem man faces a federal drug charge in connection with a drug ring that allegedly brought large quantities of cocaine, crack and marijuana from California to Philadelphia and its suburbs. Kevin Brooks was indicted July 27 on a single count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. According to the indictment released Thursday, Brooks was allegedly in possession of crack in Philadelphia in May 2008. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years. Brooks is one of four people added last month to a December indictment that describes an alleged conspiracy to purchase drugs in California and ship them to homes in Delaware County and Philadelphia for sale through street level dealers.

A Bethlehem man faces federal drug charges after police and federal officials found a kilogram of cocaine, false identification and a loaded revolver in his residence. Isidro Rosa, 27, 616 Ontario St., was charged yesterday with possession of cocaine for violating federal drug laws, said John Peluso, a Drug Enforcement Administration resident special agent. In an informal arraignment yesterday afternoon in Allentown, U.S. District Judge Edward Cahn ordered Rosa to be detained for three days without bail.

A longtime municipal official in Weissport, where Borough Council has struggled to hire more police to combat illegal drugs, faces a federal drug and firearms charge. Charged in a separate case is an owner of a Lehighton tavern where police say Carbon County's first methamphetamine lab was discovered in December, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Scranton. Guy R. Frehulfer, 51, a former Weissport councilman who also was mayor for several months after his brother resigned, was arrested at home Jan. 27 on a federal warrant charging him with possessing a firearm while unlawfully using controlled substances, a felony.

A Luzerne County man is wanted and a New York man faces federal drug trafficking charges two weeks after the pair was stopped by police in Tobyhanna Township. Ulyessie Huggins, 26, from Brooklyn, N.Y., was initially arrested on April 5 when Pocono Mountain Regional police pulled over a car he was in on Route 940 in Tobyhanna. The driver gave police a false name, but he was later identified as John Catalano, 51, of Pittston, Luzerne County. During the stop, police suspected that Catalano and Huggins were involved in possible drug trafficking and police requested a search warrant for the vehicle and Huggins.

Federal drug agents yesterday seized the Pocono estate of a convicted cocaine smuggler with ties to Colombia's infamous Medellin drug cartel, carrying out what U.S. marshals say is the largest-ever seizure of drug-related property. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents say the $2.8 million property, covering 2,700 acres in Pike and Wayne counties, was paid for by a trust fund set up with profits from illegal drug sales by Frederick Luytjes. Luytjes, whose Air America Inc. charter service was a front for a cocaine smuggling ring that operated out of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Airport, pleaded guilty to flying 7.5 tons of cocaine into northeast Pennsylvania from 1980 to 1984 -- cocaine with a street value of $150 million.

Federal drug agents said a Bethlehem man who was wounded during a July shooting that left another man dead is a significant drug trafficker who had $25,000 worth of cocaine and thousands in cash scattered throughout his home. James Garcia, 36, faces a federal drug charge of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine with a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to court documents. On Monday, a federal judge ruled Garcia is a danger to the community and a flight risk and ordered him to remain in Lehigh County Prison.

FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents, along with Allentown police, captured a man in the city Monday who was wanted on 4-year-old federal drug charges in Erie, FBI officials said. Francisco Antonio Burgos was captured about 5:15 p.m. in the 300 block of Gordon Street, they said. The FBI indicted Burgos, 39, on Aug. 17, 1994, on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, distribution with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base, and aiding and abetting.

An Easton man who is a key state's witness in two pending murder trials has been sentenced in one of two cases against him. Josh Oliver, 22, got a 20-month sentence and five years' supervised release on two federal crack distribution charges stemming from the 2008 bust of an extensive Lehigh Valley drug ring. That the July 28 hearing went ahead was a surprise to Oliver's lawyer, who had predicted it would be delayed until after his client testified against Ali E. Davis, who is accused in two Easton homicide cases, including a 2007 West Ward triple-slaying.

A Luzerne County man is wanted and a New York man faces federal drug trafficking charges two weeks after the pair was stopped by police in Tobyhanna Township. Ulyessie Huggins, 26, from Brooklyn, N.Y., was initially arrested on April 5 when Pocono Mountain Regional police pulled over a car he was in on Route 940 in Tobyhanna. The driver gave police a false name, but he was later identified as John Catalano, 51, of Pittston, Luzerne County. During the stop, police suspected that Catalano and Huggins were involved in possible drug trafficking and police requested a search warrant for the vehicle and Huggins.

A four-month investigation involving federal drug agents and Palmer Township police netted the arrests of three men after authorities found marijuana, cash and weapons Wednesday morning. Police said the three were charged after one arrived at a house at 421 N. Greenwood Ave., Palmer Township, with more than a pound of marijuana in his trunk and they found more drugs and guns in the house. Alvin Alvarez, 31, of 360 Main St., Tatamy, is charged with possession of drugs and possession with the intent to deliver.

By Ashley Kosciolek Special to The Morning Call - Freelance | January 24, 2008

A federal anti-drug grant will help Schuylkill County hire two new full-time assistant district attorneys, county commissioners were told Wednesday. The county district attorney's office will get about $270,000 to cover the costs of overtime, equipment and the employment -- including benefits -- of one full-time prosecutor for three years. The grants is part of nearly $450,000 awarded as part of the U.S. Justice Department's Methamphetamine Initiative. The remaining $180,000 will be given to Pottsville for similar uses.

A Bethlehem man, shot during a home invasion robbery, did not plead guilty to a cocaine trafficking charge at a Friday hearing in federal court. A guilty plea hearing was scheduled for James Garcia, charged with possession with the intent to deliver cocaine. Drug agents said they found $25,000 worth of cocaine in Garcia's house at 1026 Wyandotte St. after a fatal shooting there in July 2007. Attorneys were in federal court Friday for the scheduled hearing, but no action was taken.

Federal prosecutors say well-known attorney John P. Karoly Jr., who is being investigated on allegations he submitted a falsified will, might be too "preoccupied" with his own legal woes to fairly represent a Bethlehem man charged with trafficking cocaine, according to court documents. At a hearing scheduled for Dec. 10 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, prosecutors want the judge to determine whether Karoly has a conflict of interest that would harm his ability to defend James Garcia, whom drug agents have called a significant drug dealer.

A Jamaica, N.Y., man has received a federal prison sentence of seven years without parole for a March 28 cocaine transaction in the 500 block of Turner Street in Allentown. Leodis "Carlos" Hernandez, 44, was given the prison sentence recently by U.S. District Judge Daniel H. Huyett 3rd in Philadelphia. Besides the prison time, Hernandez will also have four years of supervised parole after his release. Hernandez has filed notice of appeal. His wife and two children were at the sentencing session.

An Allentown doctor pleaded guilty yesterday to federal drug distribution charges. Dr. Patrick Sewards, 39, of 246 N. 18th St. admitted the April 30, 1990, offense as his jury trial was scheduled to start in Easton. Judge Franklin S. Van Antwerpen ordered notice of Sewards' guilty plea be sent to the state's medical licensing board. He allowed Sewards to remain free on bail pending preparation of a pre-sentencing investigation by federal probation officials. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alvin J. Stout III said the prosecution would have presented evidence to show that an informant, Charles Calabrese, approached Sewards in the doctor's former office on Old York Road in Abington to buy a large quantity of diazepam tablets.

A Polk Township man who ran a drug-dealing operation with his father was sentenced to 12 to 24 years in state prison Tuesday after admitting to firing a pistol at state troopers who stormed his home in June 2006 in search of drugs. A handcuffed and somber-looking Michael Paul Albertson Jr., 29, who is serving 161/2 years in federal prison on drug charges stemming in part from the raid, apologized to the officers he shot at and blamed his troubles on drugs during Tuesday's sentencing as his girlfriend sat behind him in the Monroe County courtroom, dabbing her eyes.